Archinect - News

New 5G towers are altering the streetscape all over NYC

2022-11-08T14:27:00-05:00

But as is often the case when something new appears on the New York City streetscape, people seem startled by the large structures — and some have expressed unfounded fears about 5G. They’re concerned about the towers’ sheer size and, in some cases, the wrecked views from third-floor windows.

The three-story towers are part of the de Blasio Administration-backed LinkNYC wireless infrastructure network expansion that will eventually deliver more than 2,000 such structures to underserved neighborhoods in an effort to increase accessibility and combat racial inequality throughout the city before 2026.

The plan had to be approved by New York’s Public Design Commission and will be subsidized in large part by wireless carriers who can rent out space inside the poles, which are designed to last well into the era of 7G, according to CityBridge CEO Nick Colvin.

New York City's last remaining public payphone has been removed

2022-05-24T17:32:00-04:00

Located at Seventh Avenue and 49th Street, the removal of the payphone kiosk marks the end of an era. It was the last of its kind in operation in New York, following a sweep of the city’s 8,178 active public payphones starting in 2015. Replacing the former payphone sites have been LinkNYC kiosks that were first introduced by tech company consortium City Bridge in 2014 following a competition launched by former Mayor Michael Bloomberg to reimagine the payphone. A more modern take on the long-standing payphones, LinkNYC kiosks offer Wi-Fi, USB charging ports, and the ability to make free nationwide calls.

There still remain some private payphones on public property, however, along with four permanent, full-length booths all located on the Upper West Side. The “last” payphones removed yesterday will not be scrapped though. Instead, they are heading to the Museum of the City of New York as part of its new exhibit Analog City: NYC BC (Before Computers).

NYC free wifi-provider collaborates with Never Built New York with kiosks around the city

2018-07-16T15:45:00-04:00

An astounding collection of architectural projects that never made it into being are being displayed on kiosks around New York City. Based off the 2016 book Never Built New York, LinkNYC—which supplies the city with free wifi—is collaborating with curators and authors Greg Goldin and Sam Lubell to highlight some of the fantastical structures that appeared in their book, and almost graced the city's famous skyline.

While never actualized, many of these unbuilt plans for towers, bridges and parks, hold a unique place within architectural history and its collective imagination. Memorable proposals such as Moshe Safdie's 'Habitat New York', Robert Moses' Mid-Manhattan Expressway, and I.M Pei's 'Hyperbloid', are some of the works that will be on display. Placed on kiosks near the location they would have risen, the posters show what could've been, reminding passersby it's okay to dream.